


Tentative - RK900/Gavin Reed

by goldennparker



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: DBH, Gavin x rk900, Gavin900, M/M, detroit become human - Freeform, m/m - Freeform, reed900
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-06-20 06:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15528579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldennparker/pseuds/goldennparker
Summary: Gavin Reed, Born October 7th 2002, 5ft 9 inches, 176lbs.The android’s eyes scanned over the parter Fowler had just assigned him as he analysed him. The man stood stooped over, his shoulders hunched with his armed crossed lazily across his chest.“Fuckin’ tin can.” He remarked, glaring at Nine.This was going to be an interesting journey, RK concluded to himself.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’ll update the summary once i actually know what i’m doing.
> 
> I am fully aware there isn’t much canon about Gavin and 900, therefore most of this is just my personal headcanon!

Gavin Reed, Born October 7th 2002, 5ft 9 inches, 176lbs.

The android’s eyes scanned over the partner Fowler had just assigned him as he analysed him. The man stood stooped over, his shoulders hunched with his armed crossed lazily across his chest.

“Fuckin’ tin can.” He remarked, glaring at the android.

This was going to be an interesting journey, the RK model concluded to himself.

The man’s clothes were disheveled, he continued to study, his nose had probably been broken several times, the most notable clue being the repeatedly re-opened scar sitting across the bridge of his nose.

”The fuck you starin’ at, plastic?” Gavin’s rough voice snapped through the air, causing the android to make eye contact, but remain silent. “I’m talking to you!” He added with frustration. The RK model raised an eyebrow at the smaller man.

“You needn’t be rude, Detective.” He stated simply, causing the detective to roll his eyes with a sigh as he slumped down at the chair by his desk. The android sat with him on the spare seat, his posture immaculate as he scanned over Gavin's cluttered desk which was covered in various 'nick nacks.'

"What do they call you, anyhow?" The human inquired, kicking his feet up onto his desk and flipping through a case file. "Y'know, since Connor has a name." He added, thinking he sounded too involved.

"I never had a name registered. You could do so, if you please." The android responded, making a note of some of the things Gavin collected.  _Guitar picks._

The detective merely shrugged. "RK900 is too long. I'll just call you Nine, or whatever." He decided halfheartedly, not really caring for this decision, to which the android nodded.

"Nine." He repeated, registering his new 'name' in his programming. 

"Yeah, I know what I said, dipshit." Gavin scoffed, his eyes looking over the case file at his new partner. There was something different about Nine than Connor, he had noticed. Despite them looking essentially exactly the same, Nine had a different...  _energy._ He wasn't like Connor in regards to personality, as Connor was pretty much afraid of his own shadow. Gavin had no idea why they even kept Connor on the force after him deviating. Something about androids being granted equal rights, either way, he certainly didn't care for it. Androids were in no way capable of understanding the severity of their actions. It was all  _statistics._ Gavin forgot he was staring, only realising when the android questioned him.

"Does something about my appearance trouble you, detective?" Nine asked with a raised eyebrow. Gavin scoffed, lifting the case file up to hide his face.

"Yeah, it's fuckin' ugly." He retorted, but he didn't really think that. In fact, Nine was probably more attractive than Connor. Gavin didn't like how tall he was, or maybe he just hated that even the androids were taller than him, it wasn't like he was  _ridiculously_ short. He was above average height!

"That's rather rude, Reed." Nine said simply in response, his arms folded across his chest now. 

"I can be as rude as I like to a tin can like you, no consequence." The detective remarked, his eyebrow raised behind the file. "I don't know why Fowler even assigned you to me. I don't need some android slowing me down." 

"I assure you, detective, I will not slow you down. My instructions are to be as efficient as possible," Nine replied. "It would be much easier for me to complete tasks if you stopped being so  _ignorant."_  

Gavin slammed down the case file on his desk, standing up swiftly and grabbing Nine's jacket lapel - this was  _not_   what Nine meant to cause. "I'm not fuckin' ignorant, you piece of plastic!" The detective declared, his voice raised and his eyebrows furrowed. "You can leave if you're gonna keep saying shit like that!" Nine detected several changes in Gavin's vitals -  _raised heart-rate, raised bodily temperature, increased eye movement..._

"My apologies, Reed, that's not what I was insinuating." Nine began as justification.

"Just shut up, don't act like you know me or some shit." Gavin spat, shoving the android back into his chair harshly and sitting back down, his arms crossed still as he glared at Nine, who nodded slightly with a slight eyebrow movement. Gavin sighed, shoving the case file towards the android. "See what you can find. HR400 model almost fatally attacked some loser at EDEN. There's some photos of the scene there but we gotta go question the bastard later today." He explained, his voice returning to its usual disinterested tone. Nine nodded again, flipping through the crime scene photos, taking note of the apparent lack of human blood at the scene as Gavin muttered to himself. "Sick fucks. Who would voluntarily go see these barbie dolls."

"Detective Reed." Nine began, "There seems to be a clear lack of human blood in these photos. Just thrium." 

"That blue blood shit? No surprise, I'd shoot one if it tried to climb on top of me." Gavin retorted with a laugh. "If the victim was near fatally injured, wouldn't there be blood everywhere?" The android inquired, his eyebrow raised. 

"We've got photos of the dude's injuries, you sayin' they just didn't happen?" Reed inquired sitting up from his original slumped position. "No," Nine said, looking at the photographs. "I'm saying that I don't think this was the work of a HR400. How would a sex android have a knife? They're not readily available at EDEN club." 

Gavin shrugged. "Maybe the guy was into some kinky shit." He remarked, chuckling slightly.

"Perhaps. But I think this was something more." Nine completely ignored Gavin's joke, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Like what?" 

"Well, perhaps he was already injured when he rented the android. Do we have the android in custody?" Nine inquired.

"No, ken doll self destructed when it was accused." Gavin replied. "Should've tossed it in the recycling." He added, kicking his feet up on the desk.

Nine sighed slightly, before putting the case file down neatly on the desk. "According to department regulations, you really should tidy your work area." He remarked, standing up and looking down at Gavin. "But we really should question this 'victim'."  To this, the detective rolled his eyes, sighing as he stood, half expecting himself to be at the same level as Nine when he rose - He wasn't. 

-x-

Gavin let out a yawn. They had been investigating the crime scene for half a day, there seemed to be no concrete evidence that the HR model was at fault, so it seemed the thing had self-destructed for no reason. Either way, Reed was disgusted that they decided mouth analysing was a good feature to carry on and give to Nine. That shit was disgusting to him. He glanced across at the android sat in his passenger seat as he tapped along to the beat of the music playing on the radio.  
"So where do you even go when you're not on shift?" He asked, breaking the silence of the drive back to the DPD. This earned a shrug in response from the android.

"Most androids stay with their 'owner' but I know you're not awful fond of androids." Nine stated, looking out of the window at the passing buildings, his LED flashing a soft yellow hue.

"Connor stays with Hank? Man, that guy's ideals have really changed." Gavin remarked, flipping on his indicator as he pulled into the parking lot of the police department before letting out a sigh. "You can't just hang around at the DPD, that's fuckin' creepy."

“Then where do you suggest?" Nine asked, turning to face Gavin.

"Not my apartment, if that's what your fuckin' thinking." He scoffed, before rolling his eyes. "Don't need some tin can watching me sleep."

“I assure you, I would not be watching you sleep." Nine responded, looking away again. "Then I'm to stay at the DPD."

"Fine by me." Gavin replied, pulling into the parking spot and sighing before exiting the car, shortly followed by Nine. They made their way back inside, where Gavin picked up his jacket and keys from his desk before looking over his shoulder at Nine, who was looking around for something to do. "See ya' tomorrow, dipshit." He said to the android before exiting the building and heading back to his department. Despite knowing how to drive, Gavin only used departmentally issued cars to get around. He preferred to walk to places outside of work. It helped him clear his head. He had gotten halfway down the street when he realised -  _he had a fucking android for a partner._


	2. Not a deviant.

The android had stayed true to his word, spending the night at the DPD watching the night shift workers go about their business. He had his eyes closed, his jacket was removed and draped over his front in an attempt to make him seem less threatening whilst sitting beside Gavin's desk. He must have lost track of time, because soon enough, his human partner had returned.

"The tin can sleeps?" Gavin immediately retorted as he threw his jacket over the back of his chair. Nine's eyes opened as he propped himself up, moving his blazer aside. 

"Not sleep, as such. Rest mode." The android responded, before taking a glance at the man ahead of him, who had now slumped into his chair. It was clear Gavin hadn't slept much, if at all, which Nine wondered about. "It appears you haven't gotten your recommended amount of sleep. A man your age should be getting 6-8 hours at least—" Nine was cut off by a swift kick to his shin by the detective.

"Can it, I don't want to hear all of your fake worry shit." Gavin scoffed, logging his computer on. "The fuck did you even do last night?" He added with intrigue.

"As I said, rest mode." Nine responded, his head tilted slightly at Gavin, whose head was now laying on the desk. He was clearly exhausted.

"So you didn't do any work? The fuck're you even for if you don't do shit for me." The detective remarked, lifting his head up slightly before slamming it back into the desk.

"My apologies. I wasn't within work hours." Nine's eyes lay glued to the back of Gavin's head, wondering what on Earth the human was doing. The detective let out a sigh, folding his arms on the desk and resting the side of his head on them, returning the android's stare. 

"This case is a fuckin' dead end." He sighed out, rolling his eyes. 

"Not necessarily." Nine responded to Gavin's mumbling, picking up the file and flipping through it once again. "There's another witness we haven't questioned." To this statement, Gavin sat up properly, which wasn't something he did often.

"Who?" He inquired, leaning forward slightly to take a look at the file. 

"A Mr... Robert Heaton." The android said, holding out the crime report for the other to take. "Witnesses at the club reported seeing him around the scene of the crime. Perhaps he heard something?" 

"Maybe." Gavin nodded. "I need a coffee before we do any real work, though." He sighed, kicking up his legs and raising his eyebrows at Nine. 

"You shouldn't drink coffee so early in the morning, detective." Nine remarked, folding his arms and staring back at Gavin. "I'm not a personal service android." He added, to which the other man scoffed. 

"All the same to me, dipshit." Gavin remarked, but regardless of what he thought, he still stood and made his way to the break room to do it himself.

\- x - 

Based on tips from known criminals in the area, their so called "witness" was reputable among the criminally active. Luckily though, this didn't make his account any less valuable to the case. He reported that the so called 'victim' was already bloodstained when entering the club - the witness was a regular there and often saw the victim - and apparently he walked with a limp, suggesting that this had happened way before the man went to the club. Nine had been replaying this information in his head during the whole car ride back to the DPD.

"The victim." Nine began, breaking the silence between the two that had been present since they began their journey. "What do we know about his relationship with androids?"

Gavin raised an eyebrow, glancing at the other before settling his eyes back on the road. "What, you wanna know if you can fuck the guy?" Gavin teased, chuckling at his own joke before sighing. "Y'know, wouldn't kill you to laugh every now and then. I mean, I'm hilarious." 

"Whilst your jokes are... humorous," Nine began in response, "They aren't incredibly relevant to the case." 

"Speaking of humorous," Gavin said with a smirk, "Guess you androids weren't made with a funny bone." This received a chuckle from Nine, Gavin was unsure if this was just to satisfy him or if he genuinely found his stupid dad joke funny. 

"Well, perhaps." He said, appreciating Gavin's attempts at humour with him despite him being an android. "Anyway. Was it noted if he had any past run ins with violent androids?" 

Gavin shrugged. "Probably. Don't blame him for roughing a few up though. They never seem to listen anymore." 

"That doesn't make it any more legal." Nine remarked, his eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Androids have equal rights now due to 'Robo jesus' and his millions of disciples." Gavin scoffed, taking a sudden sharp turn into the DPD parking lot, causing Nine to slip in his seat and slam his head into the window with a thud. This caused Gavin to laugh as he pulled into his assigned spot, leaning his head on the steering wheel as he did so. Nine sighed, rubbing the side of his head despite not feeling conventional pain. 

"Yeah. Hilarious." Nine sighed out, unplugging his seatbelt and promptly exiting the car, leaving Gavin wheezing at the steering wheel, finding the whole ideal somehow hilarious.

Soon enough though, Gavin joined him at their work area, Nine was already looking through all of the case's information. When Gavin sat down, Nine clicked his fingers, looking up at Gavin. "He was attacked by an android, but not the EDEN club model." He spoke, his eyes meeting Gavin's.

"The fuck do you mean?" Gavin inquired, his head leaning in his hands as he looked towards the case file.

"An AP400 model is present in the victims household." Nine began. "It presumably went missing the day that the victim reported the attack."

"Why would the guy lie about which android attacked him?" Gavin raised an eyebrow, looking through the the notes Nine had written. He had nice handwriting. 

"Perhaps he was scared that he'd be charged for owning a deviated android, although that's not even illegal." Nine suggested, sliding the case file closer to Gavin so he could take a look. "7 inch knife wound, the same knife coming from the set that the victim has hanging up on his kitchen wall. That explains where the knife came from. We just need to locate the deviant." He added, studying Gavin's face as he looked over the evidence. 

"Holy shit. You're right." Gavin said with slight shock. He was even more efficient than Connor. "How did you even piece the two together?" 

"I studied the victims home. It wasn't technically under jurisdiction, but it was necessary to find the real aggressor." Nine responded, well aware that he had technically broken the law to figure out the truth, to Gavin's surprise. 

"That's illegal, y'know?" Gavin remarked, closing up the case file. "Sure you're not deviant yourself?" He added teasingly, his eyebrow raised at Nine.

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't make me deviant." Nine responded, his voice steady albeit flustered. Why would Gavin even suggest such a thing? He wasn't a deviant. Not even close. 

Gavin let out a slight laugh as he stood up. "I'm kidding, damn. Learn to take a joke." He remarked, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "Now come on, let's go ask around to see if anyone has seen the damn android." Nine nodded in response to this, glancing over at Connor, who was hastily looking through a case file.

"I may actually have an idea on who to ask." Nine said, looking back at Gavin as he stood up. 

"Don't tell me you're gonna go find that Markus asshole." Gavin sighed, his head lolling backwards with a groan.

"Okay. I won't tell you that." Nine responded, picking up his blazer which he had previously taken off and slung over the back of his chair. "You can ask around the victim's neighbourhood if you'd like." He added, before slipping on the blazer and turning around to walk away, leaving the detective behind.

Nine had decided that he enjoyed walking around alone. He got to take in a lot of sights around Detroit as he made his way to the new Jericho location, an urban looking building that housed hundreds of androids that had nowhere to go. Connor had informed him of the location in case he ever deviated, but for now at least, Nine only needed information. 

"Markus?" He called through the building's door security upon reaching the new Jericho, His hands clasped behind his back as he awaited a response. Soon enough, rather than responding through the built in speaker, Markus appeared at the door, answering it personally. 

"RK900." He said with a warm smile. "Connor informed me that I might meet you one day." He held out his hand for Nine to shake, which he promptly did.

"You can just call me Nine." He replied with a slight smile. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm merely here for information." Nine added, his smile now fading as Markus raised an eyebrow.

"Come in." Markus said, opening the door fully and gesturing for Nine to head inside.

\- x - 

After a long afternoon discussing the case, Nine stretched his artificial back, having been sat in an uncomfortable position for quite some time now. Markus had been incredibly helpful, despite not being one to give up one of his own, he also wasn't one to harbour an attempted murderer. He had informed Nine that he had been here days before, speaking of heading to the Canadian borders. All he had to do was get there before him, which wouldn't be hard considering he had ready access to vehicles. 

"Thank you, Markus. This information has pretty much closed this case." Nine said as he stood, a grateful smile written across his face. 

Markus nodded slightly, but caught Nine's arm. "Before you leave." He began, gesturing for Nine to sit again, which he did. "Connor tells me you still haven't deviated?" Nine let out a slightly hum to confirm this. "You do realise, you don't have to listen to them? You don't even have to work at the DPD if you don't want—" Markus was cut off by nine.

"I don't want anything. I'm just doing my job, what I was designed to do." He responded, standing again. To be truthful, Nine was afraid to deviate, he was just unaware that was what he was feeling.


	3. 3

Whilst Nine had been conversing with Markus at Jericho, much to Gavin's disgust, the other detective began digging through some statements from the victim. This case was becoming incredibly tedious. 

He sighed, pulling his hood up over his head to cover his eyes and leaning back in his chair. It was pretty late by then, maybe 10pm, and Gavin was more than exhausted due to his lack of sleep the night before. He contemplated just going home, but he quickly denied himself of the thought. He had to work this case through. Since he was so laid back, barely awake at that point, he didn't even realise that Nine had returned until he spoke.

"Detective Reed?" Nine inquired, wondering if he had actually fallen asleep (which Nine had been suggesting to Gavin all day.) His sudden interaction caused the detective to practically jump out of his skin. 

"Fuckin' hell!" Gavin half-gasped, clutching at his heart exaggeratedly. The android tilted his head, a slight chuckle leaving his mouth.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He teased, raising an eyebrow at the other.

"Oh fuck off. You didn't scare me. You're not scary. You're plastic." The detective retorted in defence, his eyebrows furrowing as he crossed his arms. "Did you get any info out of Markus? Or did you waste a day." He added, changing the subject completely.

"Apparently the deviant is headed to the Canadian border. We should be able to get there before him if we leave now." Nine replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice, before pausing, scanning Gavin's face. Bloodshot eyes, heavy eyelids, poor muscle strength.. "You shouldn't drive tired, though." He added, looking over Gavin's desk before picking up his car keys.

"Fuck off, you're not driving my car." The detective protested, standing up and attempting to grab the keys off of Nine, who merely held the keys away from him. It wasn't exactly hard for Nine to hold something out of Gavin's reach, given their height difference. 

"My apologies, but it's incredibly dangerous for you to drive in your current state of exhaustion." Nine responded, picking up Gavin's jacket and handing it to him. "Don't make a fuss, we need to leave now should we want to catch up to him before he makes it across the border." The android added. Gavin let out a groan, throwing his head back. 

"Stop talking to me like I'm a child." Gavin scowled, shoving his jacket on reluctantly before crossing his arms. Ironic, Nine thought, given that he just requested that he should not be treated as an infant. "Fine. Let's go then." The detective added after a moment, kicking at Nine's shin childishly. The android nodded, rolling his eyes at Gavin's actions before turning to exit the precinct, pressing the button on the car keys to unlock the doors.

Gavin was definitely not used to being sat in the passenger seat, especially not with some android driving, but they sat in silence regardless of how he felt. After about ten minutes, the detective couldn't stand the ringing in his ears from the lack of sound and turned on the car's radio, connecting his phone and playing his favourite music, music that was now well over 20 years old. God, he was old. 

Nine glanced over at the detective, who was now tapping his foot along to the rhythm and staring out of the car's window at the falling rain, his head rested against the glass. Gavin's eyes were tracing the rooftops of the passing building, something he had done since he was a child, but never really told anyone about. He was exhausted, but certainly wasn't going to admit that, especially not to Nine.

\- x -

The journey there, as a whole, lasted 1 and a half hours although it felt far longer to an extremely tired Gavin. Border control workers were under strict instructions to ensure the deviant didn't get through, and upon reaching this border, the two detectives discovered that the android they were looking for was sat handcuffed with security. 

"Well, that certainly made our job a lot easier." Gavin remarked as the lugged the highly stressed android back to the car. 

Nine chuckled softly and nodded his eyes drifting around the parking lot. He found the nighttime landscape fairly intriguing, but his scanning was cut short when the captured android punched Gavin in the stomach and made a break for it, winding the human detective. Nine's eyes narrowed as he began to sprint after the deviant, narrowly missing being hit by a car as Gavin made his best attempt to catch up with him, although he knew this was futile. Still, though, he continued to run after the two androids, hopping over scattered crates, cars slamming on their brakes, barely managing to miss the racing detectives. His heart was pounding, the wind rushing past his ears caused a pulsing sensation inside his eardrums as he struggled to keep his balance, following the two through winding alleyways before he finally caught up to them when Nine had pinned the deviant against the floor, holding his arms behind his back. Gavin's eyebrows furrowed, kicking one of the crates next to him. "What the fuck." He muttered, heaving over as he struggled to catch his breath. 

"Handcuffs, Detective?" Nine inquired, looking over his shoulder at the disheveled man. Gavin threw the cuffs over to his partner, leaning back up against the wall and muttering various curse words as his tiredness began to really hit him. Sliding down the wall, Gavin sat on the gritted floor, his chest still heaving, either from the sudden activity or the exhaustion. Or both. Nine looked back at Gavin with slight concern, lifting up the android that he had captured just moments before. "You're exhausted, Reed." He said matter-of-factly, his head tilting ever so slightly as he looked down at the man. Gavin's gaze rose and he made eye contact with Nine.

"No, I'm not." He breathed out, standing up very unsteadily and holding himself up against the alleyway's wall. 

Nine rolled his eyes, beginning to walk away from Gavin at a quick pace. "Whatever you say, Detective." He spoke, well aware that Gavin wouldn't be able to keep up with him in his current state. 

"Oh, fuck you." Gavin huffed, stumbling along behind the two androids. "You're such a prick." 

"Yeah, yeah." Nine chuckled slightly. "Maybe later." He teased, raising an eyebrow at the exhausted man, who was now pulling a disgusted face. 

Upon reaching the car again, Nine ensured that the android was secure in the back of the car as Gavin practically fell into the front passenger seat. His android partner soon joined him in the front of the car, buckling his seatbelt and turning the engine on. The music previously playing blasted through the car's radio, to which Gavin groaned and turned off. He had passed normal tiredness now, he was absolutely exhausted. 

"You need sleep, Detective." Nine said as they exited the parking lot, switching on his indicator to pull out onto the road. 

"So you keep saying." Gavin retorted sassily, his head leaning against the glass of the car's window. "I'm fine." He added, moments before letting out a long yawn. Nine sighed, knowing soon enough he would fall asleep anyway. The night traffic was incredibly light, so much so that the roads became almost silent, and sure enough, by the time they reached the nearest precinct, Gavin was already flat out asleep. Nine opted not to wake him, dropping the offending android off into holding for later interrogation in the most upstate precinct in Michigan. Upon returning to the car, Gavin was still fast asleep, but his core body temperature was low as Nine hadn't thought to leave the heat on for him. He sighed, taking off his blazer and draping it over the detective. Had he been awake, Gavin surely would've rejected this, but Nine took advantage of his unconscious state to ensure that he was comfortable. He decided to take shortcuts through small villages on the way back down to Detroit, they were far, far smaller than what he was used to, the homes rarely had more than one floor and they all had acres of land. He found the drive oddly peaceful, taking glances at the sleeping man next to him to check on him every now and then. Gavin's face was far softer when he was asleep, his eyes were gently closed and his eyebrows were finally un-furrowed. His mouth lay slightly ajar and his chest rose slowly, letting out soft, small snores. Nine was completely in awe at how different Gavin was when he was asleep. Almost as if all the troubles in the world were lifted off of his shoulders. The detective stirred in his sleep slightly, shifting positions and wrapping his arms around the blazer that had been draped across his front. Nine smiled softly, had never seen this side of his partner before, maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

\- x - 

Gavin had slept the whole way home, Nine had made sure to drive through the smoothest roads in order to let him rest soundly. They arrived back in detroit at 2:37am, far too late to take the detective back to the DPD and make him walk home, Nine thought. He had his car keys, and his apartment key was attached to them, so he opted just to take Gavin straight home. When Nine pulled into the apartment block's parking lot, he called Gavin's name softly, not sure if he should wake him or not. When the other didn't respond, Nine let out a soft sigh, unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out of the car. He made his way to the passenger door, opening it quietly and gently undoing Gavin's seatbelt. Luckily, because Gavin considered himself a rebel, he didn't wear his seatbelt in a way that would wake him should it have been undone — as in, he kept both of his arms over both seatbelt sections. 

Nine scooped the smaller man up into his arms, closing the car door and carrying Gavin into the apartment building. Apartment 5a, Nine repeated in his head, entering the elevator and pressing the large button reading "5," Nine barely needed one arm to carry Gavin, but he figured holding him with two when possible would be more comfortable for the human's back. As the elevator doors opened up on the fifth floor, one of, presumably, Gavin's neighbours glared at the android with confusion. Boy, would this be good for the detectives reputation. 

Nine shifted Gavin in his arms as he unlocked the apartment door, slowly walking inside as the lights turned themselves on. The android scanned the room, it was just as messy as he imagined, but it wasn't dirty, just cluttered. Nine continued through the apartment, looking through each doorway in search of Gavin's bedroom. He opened up the final door and entered the room, however, the windows were left open and a gust of wind blew through the room, slamming the door shut and startling Gavin, who opened his eyes, and proceeded to freak out, falling out of the android's arms. 

"What the fuck?" The man exclaimed, staring up at the android. "Why were you fuckin' carrying me, you creep!" 

"You slept the whole way home." Nine responded, crossing his arms over his chest. "I didn't want to wake you because you're clearly exhausted." He added, scanning his eyes around the room. They paused on his nightstand. Paracetamol, lighter, deodorant, Lamotrigine medication, Fluphenazine...

"Yeah well, you didn't need to carry me like a baby, you prick." Gavin said, standing up and stretching, his back cracking as he did so. He looked at Nine, who was studying his belongings. Gavin swallowed a bit, opening the drawer of the nightstand and shoving the medication quickly inside. "Stop looking at my shit." He snapped, not making eye contact with the other. "Why're you even here? Go away. Don't even act like you care." Nine's LED flashed red for a moment upon hearing this.

"My apologies." Nine spoke into the room. "I'll head back to the DPD." Gavin sighed, kicking his shoes off as he fell back onto his bed. 

"You can crash here." Gavin muttered, staring up at the ceiling. "You look like a fucking lost puppy." He added, just to make sure Nine didn't think he was being sincere.

Nine let out a soft chuckle, though it was forced. "Thank you." He said, picking up his jacket that had fallen along with Gavin before exiting the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Gavin was left alone to think for the first time in a while. He let out a long sigh, taking off his jacket and pulling his shirt over his head, kicking off his trousers until he was just in his underwear before getting under his bedcovers. Nine probably thought he was a psycho with all that medication.


	4. 4

"Deviant, just like Connor." Amanda's harsh voice cracked through the cold late winter air. Her lips curled with disgust as she spoke his name, and Nine could feel her eyes burning into him. 

"I," Nine's voice cracked as he began to speak. He cleared his throat, fear visibly glazing his eyes. "I'm not a deviant!" He protested, clutching his left arm fearfully. But somewhere deep down, he knew this was futile, Amanda would never believe him.

"You're going to be replaced, just like Connor." There it was again, the malice in her voice as she said his name, would she speak of him in this way to the next android? She reached forward— Why was she reaching forward? 

Nine's eyes burst open mere moments before Amanda shut him down. What was that? Why was she doing this? Even though he knew there was absolutely no possibility of him having a heart attack, he clutched at his chest, creasing his neat black shirt with clawing fingers. He could feel his processor pulsing in a desperate attempt to regulate his systems. Why was his chest heaving? He didn't need to breathe- 

Nine's thoughts were interrupted as he felt something jump onto the couch beside him, a soft head pressing up against his arm. A cat? His hothead detective partner had a cat? More importantly, how hadn't Nine noticed this until the morning? The android sat up straighter, and the cat tentatively stepped onto his lap. He placed a hand on the cat's back, petting it gently, it felt so fragile. Without realising it, his thirium pump returned to its usual rhythm whilst he listened to the feline's gentle purr. He let himself lay back into the sofa slightly, smiling softly at this creature. The cat nuzzled into the android's hand before climbing up to his chest, curling up against him. The sunlight peeking through the blinds reflecting off of the cat's coat, making it seem to almost glow. The creature was warm against Nine's body, which was oddly calming. 

They must've lay like that for a while, as before Nine knew it, Gavin was up and out of bed, exiting his bedroom with a loud yawn. He scratched the back of his head as he entered the living room, Nine and the feline catching his eye. That was odd, to Gavin. His cat barely ever cuddled even him, and when he did it was only when the detective was having a panic attack-

Did Nine have a panic attack? Can androids even have panic attacks? 

Gavin shook the thought from his head, continuing his journey to the kitchen to fetch himself a coffee. Nine opened his eyes as he heard Gavin shuffling about, scanning the man out of habit. 

"You got enough sleep." Nine stated simply, the cat shifting slightly underneath him due to the gentle hum of the android's voice. Gavin glanced at him from behind the kitchen counter. 

"Yeah, I guess." Gavin mumbled in response. His voice was softer, yet gruff, most likely due to the fact that he just woke up, Nine concluded. He was happy that Gavin had gotten a healthy amount of sleep. He noticed that Gavin was staring at the cat laying on his chest. 

"What's it's name?" Nine inquired, his hand running through the feline's silky fur.

"That's Lucifer." The detective replied, pouring his coffee into a mug and wrapping both of his hands around it for warmth. "He's pretty great." He added, a soft smile barely visible on his lips. Gavin blew gently on his coffee, taking a sip and savouring the warmth, he was always freezing, but he'd never admit that to anyone. He carried the mug over to the couch, sitting down beside the android, his legs crossed, and pulled the blanket that had been there from a few days before over his lower half. He reached out he free hand and stroked Lucifer's head fondly, pretty much ignoring the presence of the android. "He doesn't usually do that." Gavin stated quietly, he was too tired for anything snarky just yet. Nine raised a confused eyebrow at this.

"He just jumped up on me when I came out of rest mode this morning." The android replied, he was admittedly embarrassed of the nightmare. The most advanced model developed by Cyberlife, reduced to a complete mess over a silly bad dream. He definitely wasn't going to tell Gavin of the event. Gavin let out a small hum of acknowledgement. 

"Weird." Gavin mumbled, looking up at the android's face. His LED was flashing a soft yellow hue as his hand rested on the small animal, his eyes seemed barely focused. Did he even think? Or was it all ones and zeros? He had wondered what made Lucifer react to him. Was he seriously panicking? Or did the damn cat just like Nine? His thoughts were interrupted by Nine 'clearing his throat.' 

"We should leave soon if we want to get to work on time." The android stated as the clock neared 9am, gently encouraging the cat off of his chest so that he could sit up properly. Gavin sighed, taking another sip of his coffee.

"I don't wanna be at work on time." The detective groaned, throwing his head back frustratedly. "God, I can't wait for my day off." He added under his voice. 

"All that's left to do is interrogate the android. They dropped him down to the DPD early this morning." Nine replied, slipping his blazer back on. 

"They?" Gavin inquired, finishing the last few sips of his coffee before leaning forward and placing it on the table.

"Detectives from the LPD." The android responded, raising an eyebrow at Gavin, for a moment he had forgotten that the rough man had been soundly sleeping in the car. 

"Christ. I must've been out cold if I don't remember stopping at all." Gavin muttered as he stood, removing the blanket from his legs and heading to his bedroom to grab some clothing that wasn't a baggy hoodie and pyjama bottoms. 

\- x - 

Since the two returned together, Gavin's sort-of-friend Tina had a lot to say about Nine staying at the detective's apartment, despite him adamantly denying he even did. She spent most of the morning teasing him, whereas Nine got straight to work studying the fine details of the case for questioning. From the other side of the room, he could hear Connor and Hank joking around. He couldn't catch much, but he did hear a few remarks from Hank.

"Damn kid, it's a wonder Amanda didn't shut you down then and there." Hank's rasp voice was ringing through Nine's ears. Merely hearing her name caused his LED to rush through a manic cycle of red and yellow. Suddenly he was back there, Amanda gripping his thirium regulator, his systems were whirring and he could barely focus on the writing ahead of him. Gavin spotted the seemingly distressed android from across the precinct. The fuck was going on with him today? 

"Nine." The detectives voice rang through Nine's ears as Gavin approached their desks. "The fuck is wrong with you?" He added, slumping down into his seat. The android's eyes flickered up, looking at the man ahead of him. 

"What do you mean?" Nine inquired with false confusion. "Nothing is wrong." He added rather quickly, looking back down at the case file. Gavin shrugged with indifference, grabbing the file out of Nine's grasp. 

"Then come on, let interrogate this bastard." The detective ordered, raising an eyebrow at Nine before standing and gesturing for the android to follow him. 

Upon entering the interrogation room, the accused android stared at Gavin with malice, it clearly hated humans. Nine sat down in front of the android, his human partner opting to stay standing behind him, whom the accused kept his glare on. 

"My name is Nine." The android detective spoke up, breaking the silence. "Do you have a name registered in your system?" He added, tilting his head ever so slightly. When his question was ignored, he pulled out the photos of the victim's wounds and lay them gently in front of the other android, who's gaze was now fixed on them. "You did this, right?" Nine's voice was soft, not something Gavin had expected during an interrogation. It was almost as if he empathised with the thing. 

The accused android looked up at Nine, fear written across its face like a sonnet. Its' whole body was shaking, Gavin didn't know if it was fear or anger— no, it was neither. Androids couldn't feel human things. "What if I did?" The android whispered with unease, averting his eyes from Nine. 

"You'll be taken back to Cyberlife regardless." Nine stated simply, shuffling forward slightly in his chair. "But your cooperation would make your experience there far better." He added to calm the android. 

"Make him leave." The accused requested, glaring up at Gavin and shuddering.

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" The detective growled, uncrossing his arms and clenching his fists. "What, you think you're fuckin' better than me because you're some shitty android?" Gavin approached the android, who's face contorted with worry, kicking himself backwards in the chair. The detective grabbed it by its' shirt, lifting it up out of the chair. "You'd better watch your fuckin' mouth, you prick." Gavin spat as the android shook beneath him.

"Detective Reed, that's enough." Nine spoke out, now standing and glaring at the smaller man. Gavin furrowed his eyebrows, shoving the android down with such force that he fell past the chair. "I think you need to leave." Nine added, and Gavin, though reluctantly, complied, shoving past Nine as he did so. Sighing, Nine knelt down beside the android, placing a sympathetic hand on its' shoulder. "My apologies, Detective Reed has some... strong feelings towards androids." Nine helped the android stand, guiding him back to his original spot on the chair. 

"You know why I did what I did." The android's voice was weak as it began to confess. "They treat us like we are nothing, like we're the disgusting garbage they throw away on the daily..." 

Nine nodded. "I do understand, but your attack led to that man's death, and that's very much against the law." He spoke softly, looking at the android with compassion. "What did he do to you?" He added, closing the file in hopes of gaining the accused's trust. 

The android let out a saddened sigh, looking down at its cuffed hands as it twiddled its' thumbs anxiously. "Every time his wife would leave, it was my fault." It began, its' voice wavering. "He'd beat me until I bled. Throw me down stairs, burn me whilst I cooked for him... I couldn't understand, I was doing everything he asked me to do. It was never enough..." He suddenly looked up, his eyes determined. "Why do you tolerate a human? He's only going to end up hurting you." It spoke out, his gaze remaining fixed to the floor before adding; "Like they all do." Nine remained silent, unsure of how to respond. The android's eyes flickered up due to the other's silence. "He already does, doesn't he." It spoke out. "Why are you staying?" 

"Detective Reed doesn't hurt me." Nine responded. But maybe the android was right. Sure, Gavin didn't hurt him in the conventional way but, he always made a point of calling him plastic, or ignoring his advice when Nine was just trying to help. His LED flashed red briefly, before returning to its usual blue hue. The detective watched on from behind the one-way glass, quite honestly in awe at the amount of empathy the android just showed, why did his LED flash red? 

The accused android looked down, not believing Nine in the slightest. "You will understand one day. You will realise." It spoke, its' LED flashing a harsh red before it looked back to Nine. "Please just, just shut me down now." He added, a hopeless tone overtaking his voice. Nine's eyes visibly saddened, he had never heard of an android wishing for death before. He nodded gently, but he wasn't going to grant the android of his wish. Nine quietly stood, walking over to the android and helping him up carefully before leading him out of the interrogation room, having gotten what the required to close the case, leaving Gavin stood alone behind the glass, looking at his feet, his mouth agape. The fuck was he feeling, guilt? For a fucking android? No way. His head was just being stupid again. But, that android wanted to die. Gavin had only ever seen androids 'afraid' of dying, until now.


	5. 5

Having finally received the confession they needed, the case was officially closed and Gavin was free to take the rest of the day off, but he didn't really feel like going home. He was still pretty shaken up from the events in the interrogation, maybe he had overreacted, but he certainly wasn't going to apologise to some android. The detective let out a long sigh as he finished the last of his paperwork, shoving it onto his "finished case" pile before looking over to his android partner, who was busy adding the case into the archive digitally. 

"Hey, that case was a tough one." Gavin spoke out, breaking the silence between the two. "Let's go get a drink, or whatever." He added, stretching as he suggested this. 

Nine returned a confused look, raising his eyebrow. "Androids don't need to drink, Detective." He responded simply, before returning his eyes to his work. 

"It's an expression, dumbass. Y'know to celebrate." Gavin rolled his eyes, unplugging the computer screen from the back. "C'mon."

The android let out a sigh, looking back at Gavin again, he certainly cheered up. "Fine, if you insist." He replied, watching the detective as he grabbed his jacket and threw it on lazily, gesturing for the android to follow him. 

"I know a great place downtown." The human stated as they began their journey, opting to travel on foot, Gavin already knew he was gonna get completely hammered. The detective walked with a slight hunch, Nine noted, with his hands jammed as far down into his pockets as he could get them. He took large strides, watching his feet as he walked, which Nine accounted to the detective's clumsiness, Gavin had almost no spacial awareness when it came to his feet, the android found this quite amusing at times. He let out a low chuckle as the detective tripped on the curb, to which Gavin rolled his eyes. 

"Oh fuck off, Nine, just 'cause you don't trip up, ever." He scoffed half-jokingly, shoving Nine with his shoulder, making the android sidestep ever so slightly. As they entered the bar, Gavin pulled his hands out of his pockets, breathing into them and rubbing them together to warm them up after being out in the bitter cold of early February. His nose and the tips of his ears were flushed a delicate pink, and despite the fact that it was indeed winter, Gavin usually flat out refused to wear hats or scarves, especially when Nine recommended it. The detective nodded at the bartender with familiarity, insinuating to Nine that Gavin was a regular here. 

"The main bar is shit." Gavin stated, glancing at Nine. "But there's an almost 'backstage' area for locals and regulars." He added, shoving through a swinging door to a smaller but slightly less crowded room. The android was met with rather malicious glares from the humans occupying the room, but he continued to follow the detective to a table in the corner of the room. Gavin raised his hand at the bartender, which Nine assumed was him ordering 'the usual.' He pulled off his black leather jacket, revealing his police academy sweatshirt with a graphic tee poking out of the bottom. He was certainly a messy dresser. 

Soon enough, the bartender walked over with Gavin's drink, a rounded glass of Vodka & Coke, and nodded in the android's direction. "So, the famous android hater decides to take one out on a date?" He joked, hitting the detective on the back of the head, the way a mother would to a misbehaving child. 

Gavin rolled his eyes, turning his head to look up the the bearded bartender. "Yeah, fuck off Joel. Ain't a date, thing's just efficient at work." This received a laugh from the other man.

"Let me know what else he's efficient at." The bartender let out a loud laugh, winking at Gavin before returning to his work post, leaving the two alone, and the detective with a reddened face as he shook his head, scoffing at the idea.

"Yeah, right." Gavin breathed out, taking a sip of his drink through a short black straw. "Dude wouldn't know efficient if it punched him in the face." He muttered before looking up at Nine. "Can you drink?" He inquired, the straw still hanging from his mouth. 

"Technically, yes, but other than replenishing thirium, I have no use for it." The android replied, his head held high. 

"Why d'ya always look at everyone like that?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at the being in front of him. "Like you're better than us, with your head all high and entitled like that." 

"I don't intend it like that." Nine replied before gesturing to his shirt's turtle-neck styled collar. "This shirt tends to restrict movement." 

Gavin let out a hum of acknowledgement before reaching forward to the android, which startled Nine slightly, before he grabbed a hold of the shirt collar, unbuttoning the top two bottoms and loosening the black tie that he always wore. "There." He said proudly, as if this was a large accomplishment. "You need better clothes." He said with a raised eyebrow before taking another large sip of his drink. 

"And what would you class as better, Detective?" Nine inquired, leaning his head on his hand as a test of his new dexterity.

"I don't know, shit you can actually move in?" Gavin remarked, swirling his drink in the class. "Human clothes." He added.

"Well, you certainly can't move very well in those skinny jeans you wore the other day." Nine noted with a raised eyebrow. "It's not 2017 anymore, Reed." He added teasingly.

"Fuck off ya 'droid." Gavin scoffed, kicking Nine's shin before his attention was averted elsewhere, to what seemed to be a friend of his calling his name. 

"Reed, ya piece of shit!" Their voice rang as his friend got closer to the two of them, "Where has my drinking buddy been these past weeks, huh?" They added once reaching the table.

"Damn, Tobi, man's got a job y'know." The detective said with fondness, giving each other a half assed high five.

"Jägerbombs, on me, now." His friend demanded, gesturing to the bar behind them. 

"Jeez, maybe one round." Gavin replied, before looking back at Nine. "If you're cool." He added, seeming for the first time that he cared for the android's input. 

"Yeah, of course. Go ahead." Nine replied with a soft smile.

"You're coming with though." Gavin's rowdy friend said, pointing straight at Nine with determination, who simply nodded as the two dragged him over to the bar.

\- x - 

One round slowly turned into five, Gavin was a very woozy drunk. He could barely stand up straight by the end of the evening, which Nine found incredibly amusing. 

"I gotta piss." Gavin slurred, shoving past Nine in search of a restroom. 

"How charming." Nine remarked as he watched Gavin's friend wander off to find someone else to drink with. The android had observed the people in the bar get progressively drunker, and most of them were incredibly loud when drunk, which Nine found rather annoying, but his thoughts were cut short when he heard a loud crash from the corner of the room. His eyes snapped over to see a larger man towering over Gavin, who was now laying on a table covered in smashed glass.

"Always knew you were a faggot, but a fuckin' android fucker too? Too far, Reed." The bigger man growled, letting out a grunt as the detective kicked him in the stomach, pushing him back away from him. 

"I ain't fuckin' the piece of shit!" Gavin growled, throwing a punch at the man's face, which connected with his jaw with some unexpected force on the other man's side. This seemed to anger him, he attempted to grab at Gavin's collar which the detective evaded, kicking the man in the back of the knees, causing them to buckle underneath him. The detective was certainly going to do more, but couldn't manage to get any hits in before Nine attempted to intervene.

"Detective Reed, this is unacceptable behaviour." He stated, attempting the pull Gavin away from the man. 

"Fuck off, tin can." He spat, fighting Nine's grip and kicking at the man who was now getting up, looking extremely angry.

"I understand that you're angry—" Nine began, but was quickly cut off by and enraged Gavin.

"You don't understand shit!" He yelled, turning away from the man and shoving Nine away from him. "You know why you don't understand shit? Because you're a fucking piece of plastic!" He added with malice, his eyebrows furrowed and his face contorted with anger. "You don't understand or give a shit! It's a one or a zero in your program!" 

"Detective I—" Nine tried to speak in defence, but was quickly denied this opportunity. 

"You don't fucking care! No one fucking cares! Not even if I dropped dead right now!" The whole room had become dead silent, even the aggressor in the fight was staring at the two as the smaller man exploded. He looked around him at the people he knew simply glaring at him. "Fuck. You." He growled, shoving past the stunned android and out of the room, presumably out of the bar, leaving Nine stood staring at the chipped wooden flooring, completely speechless. He knew the man was hotheaded, but he had never seen him this worked up before.

Gavin's words were flooding through Nine's systems, they were wrong. Why were they wrong? Why did Nine want, with every fibre of his being, to destroy them? Why did he want? This wasn't in his program. 

\- x - 

Gavin was more than frustrated, his hands shoved angrily into his pockets as he stomped down the streets on his way home. His balance was way off, as alcohol never mixed well with his medication. His vision was blurred and he was trying to figure out if he had overreacted or not. He was certain of one thing though, and that was the fact that he had just made a complete fool of himself. 

The detective's thoughts were interrupted by someone grabbing his jacket's collar and shoving him up against the wall, his feet dangling above the floor. He couldn't quite tell who it was, his eyes were glazed over both from being drunk and being upset. He struggled to get out of the man's grip as he began to realise who it was.

"You really thought you could get off that easy?" The man's voice growled, the same man who had grabbed him at the bar. Before Gavin could choke out a reply, the aggressor kneed him in the stomach, winding the detective who was then dropped to the floor. "You're a piece of shit, there was never a doubt about that." He added with malice, kicking Gavin in the rib cage. "Not even gonna fight back?" He spat at the detective, who was lay on his side, clutching at his ribs as he struggled to breathe.

"Fuck off—" Gavin's voice was weak and wavering, but he still struggled to his feet and curled his hands into fists, throwing an off balanced punch at the other, who easily dodged it before slamming his fist into Gavin's face, cutting his cheek and causing his nose to bleed. The man laughed at Gavin's now frail and shaking form, face pressed up against the concrete, having fallen from the last impact. 

"You should watch your mouth, you filthy android fucker." The man spat, stomping his heel into Gavin's spine before walking away, leaving the detective bleeding and hyperventilating on the floor. 

He slowly sat up against the wall, letting out a pained sigh as he attempted to wipe the blood away from his face. His entire body was burning, pain surging through his veins as he tried to stand up, very nearly falling right back over. Holding himself up by pressing his hand against the wall, Gavin began to stumble home, wincing due to his throbbing head and the shooting pain in his spine. 

He eventually managed to limp through the doorway of his apartment building, practically falling into the elevator as he hurriedly pressed the '5' button to avoid anyone else joining him in there. He slumped up against the wall, closing his eyes as he felt the elevator move up. 

Upon reaching his apartment door, he fumbled for his keys in his jacket pocket, struggling to unlock the door because of his shaking hands. When he finally managed to turn the key and enter the apartment, he choked out a cry and slammed the door shut behind him, dropping his keys to the floor and lugging himself to his bathroom. The detective flipped the light switch and looked into the mirror, faced with his bruised and broken reflection staring back at him. He slipped off his jacket, wincing as he pulled his hoodie over his head, followed by his black graphic tee. His watering eyes grazed over his beaten body, two of his ribs were dislodged, signalling to the detective that they were almost certainly broken. He brushed his hands against his discoloured cheek, that punch had somehow sliced almost completely down his cheekbone. His eyes fell to the floor, why did it always come to this? He didn't want this anymore.


	6. 6

Gavin's eyes snapped open as his heart hammered against his chest, sweat dripping down his neck as he tried to convince himself that the events of the previous night were merely a dream, he almost succeeded until pain began coursing through his body like electricity, seizing his muscles and reminding him of every bruise littered across his body, which made it near impossible to pull himself up off of the floor. As his vision cleared from its' sleeping haze, he realised he'd passed out on the bathroom floor after arriving home the night before. He managed to stand up on shaking legs, stumbling over to his sink and letting out a sigh from his damaged lungs as he turned on the cold water. He cupped some in his hand and pressed it against his face, wincing as it rinsed over his wounds. His blackened eyes then scanned over his face before he reached up into his cabinet to find a bandage to cover up his sliced cheek, placing surgical tape over the top very messily. He wiped away the blood that stained his nose before sighing and fumbling in his jean pockets for his phone. Upon turning it on, he realised it was 11:24am, he was far more than just late for work. He muttered a few curse words under his breath, trying his hardest to get ready quickly, though his beaten body limited his movement greatly. He opted to just shove on the same grey police academy sweatshirt he had worn the night before, not connecting that his blood was splattered across it before he had already left his apartment without even taking his medication.

\- x -

"Fuckin' Reed." Fowler sighed out, kicking the detective's desk chair and checking his watch. "Goes out gettin' fucking pissed and expects no one to need him at work the next day!" He added with frustration, looking over at Nine, who was busy working away at the case meant for the both of them.   
"Let me know when that prick gets here, got it?" Fowler commanded at the android, who's LED still bore a red hue. Nine nodded, looking up at the annoyed police captain as he walked back into his office.

After about fifteen minutes, the detective finally arrived, walking through the security gate at the entrance of the DPD, very clumsily at that. Hank was about to make some snarky comment about how he was so late before realising his condition and practically jumping out of his seat. Nine glanced up, his LED blinking red at the sight of the beaten and broken man. 

"Gavin! What the fuck happened?" His friend Tina, having spotted him from the break room, ran over to him, which, as Nine observed, seemed to panic him. He let out a forced laugh, pushing her away in a false-jokingly manner, wincing as he pulled his leather jacket off upon arriving at his desk. Nine's systems were whirring, was he supposed to act like he didn't care? He kept his eyes glued to the bloodied detective; two inch gash on his right cheek, torn and bloody lip, black eye, doubtlessly other injuries that weren't visible. Gavin kept his eyes low, barely even glancing in the android's direction when he was grabbing the case file. Nine was honestly at a loss of ideas on what to do. 

The two worked in silence for most of the day, every time Nine would try to work up the courage to speak to the man, he would lose it as soon as he opened his mouth, spouting out something like 'Can you pass me a pen?' rather than what he truly wanted to ask. The detective let out a sigh, pressing his hand against his forehead in an attempt to alleviate some pain, before standing weakly, making his way over to the restroom, from what Nine could tell. Moments after Gavin left, the android spotted Tina stomping towards him, her eyebrows furrowed as she did so. Once reaching him, she left a harsh slap across his cheek before grabbing at the collar of his blazer, her eyes burning into him. 

"What the fuck did you do to him?" She growled, completely oblivious to the stunned police officers who were all staring at the two of them. "Why the fuck would you do that?" 

Nine's mouth hung ajar as he looked back up at the furious woman. "You think I did this?" He spoke out, confusion written over his face. "Why would I hurt him?" He inquired, standing up out of his chair, causing Tina to release her grip since he stood so tall over her. Nine was shaking his head, his LED still flashing red. "You think I want to hurt that man? Sure, he may treat me like an object, and sure, he hates me, but that doesn't mean I want to hurt him!" Nine's voice was louder now, attracting the attention of Captain Fowler from within his office. "He thinks I don't care but I do!" He added, before realising how many people in the DPD were staring at him. He glanced around the room, noticing Gavin stood at the doorway of the men's restroom. He had no idea how much of that he heard, but he certainly didn't want to be around to find out. He pushed past Tina slightly, making his way out of the precinct, his LED still flashing a harsh red as he walked down the darkening street. He didn't know where he was going, or what he was going to do, he just knew he had to leave. But after wandering for an hour or two, Nine knew exactly what he wanted. And that was answers. 

\- x - 

Gavin had kept his eyes down the whole journey home from the precinct, only occasionally looking up anxiously when someone walked by him. Upon reaching his apartment block, he saw a familiar figure sat waiting underneath the only working street lamp in the neighbourhood. What did he want now? He sighed, making his way over to the android, who was sat on the wall outside of his apartment building. 

"What do you want, Nine?" Gavin inquired as he reached Nine's position, not making eye contact. The android gave a saddened look to the other, who had limped the whole way over to him. 

"To know what happened." He said in a soft, yet firm voice. "The truth." Nine added, raising an eyebrow at Gavin. 

"Oh, fuck off." Gavin sighed, turning around and beginning to walk towards the door of his building, but before he could leave, Nine's hand caught his. "The fuck?" He muttered, turning around to look at Nine. The android's face was plastered with guilt, as if he felt at fault for the events of the previous night. 

"I just want to know how to help you." Nine admitted, his LED blinking a soft yellow as he made direct eye contact with Gavin, pulling him towards him to sit on the wall beside him. Gavin's face reddened when Nine's hand didn't leave his own, but instead intertwined their fingers. "Please, just say something." The android added, his eyes place gently on their hands, he was admittedly surprised that the rough and angry detective hadn't removed his hand, but there they were, sat outside in the rain, fingers intertwined as Gavin let out a sigh. 

"Like what?" The detective replied, shaking his leg up and down, one of his nervous habits, Nine had observed over the past few days. 

"You could start with who did this to you." Nine responded with a raised eyebrow, glancing up at Gavin's face, littered with cuts and bruises that he was yet to find out the cause of. There was a long pause, maybe a minute or two, before the detective finally worked up the courage to speak.

"The guy from the bar last night." He mumbled in a small, quiet voice, before letting out a shaky sigh. He could feel his eyes stinging, but he didn't want his partner to see him cry. Especially not over something so trivial. The android let out a small hum of acknowledgement, his LED flashing a brief red before returning to its previous yellow state. Nine opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Gavin. "He was telling me that I should recycle you, at the bar, last night." He began with a shaky voice. "I don't know why I got so angry, but I told him to fuck off. His words were just," The detective paused, letting out a weak sigh. "They were so harsh, they made my stomach sink. And I don't know why because I've been saying the same things to you this whole time without a second thought." Tears were threatening to spill over the detective's cheek, oh god, he was going to cry in front of him. "And," His voice gave away that he was crying. "And I don't know why I turned around and screamed at you I just—" Gavin turned to look at Nine, his eyes burning at this point, tears streaming over his bruised face. God, he couldn't bare the android seeing him like this. He desperately needed something to stop him from crying. Would Nine freak out if he hugged him? No, he didn't deserve that. But christ, did he need it. The android just wanted to help though, right?

He let go of Nine's hand, before shoving his face into the crook of the android's neck, his chest heaving as he tried to speak. "I get so fuckin' angry all the time. I don't wanna be like this anymore. It's always the fuckin' same." He choked out. 

Nine placed one of his hands gently on the detective's back, being sure not to push too harshly on his damaged spine, and the other on the back of Gavin's head, his fingers tangling into his soft dark hair, and his thumb moving up and down in a soothing motion. He could feel the man shaking in his arms as he let out a pained sigh. 

"I'm sorry I said all that shit." Gavin spoke out softly, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat as he gripped the back of Nine's blazer tightly. "I didn't mean any of it, I just—"

Nine cut off Gavin before he said anything else in justification. "It's okay, Gavin." 

Gavin nodded slightly, and the two sat in silence for a while, the detective remaining in Nine's arms for the whole time as rain continued to crash around them, the street light illuminating the two of them as Nine continued to comfort the smaller man.


	7. 7

Gavin winced as Nine dabbed a cold, wet flannel against his gashed cheek, pulling away from the pressure as pain burned throughout his face. 

"Fuckin' be careful." The detective groaned, pushing the android's hand away from his face.

"My apologies, but this would be a lot easier if you sat still." Nine responded simply, continuing to clean up the detective's face despite his protests. The android brushed his finger gently over Gavin's other cheek, a large, purple bruise covering maybe a quarter of it. He let out a saddened sigh, washing out the flannel in Gavin's bathroom sink, the water running a pale red as the blood dislodged from the washcloth. He rummaged through the detective's 'medical' cabinet, which mostly consisted of empty boxes of ibuprofen and individual bandaids, in search of a surgical dressing to cover his wound sufficiently. Gavin twiddled his thumbs together,  his cheek still burning from the sudden interference before Nine returned to the detective, kneeling in front of him to place the dressing neatly. He lined up the soft padding precisely, being very gentle as he smoothed down the sticky edges. The android's eyes scanned over Gavin's body, noticing his posture was more hunched than usual.

"Can you take off your shirt?" Nine asked, having come to the conclusion that Gavin was undoubtedly roughed up under his clothing as well. The detective's cheeks flushed red as confusion spread over his face.

"What the fuck?" Gavin half-gasped, his cheeks now not only burning from his injuries.

"I can tell that he damaged your torso, too." Nine replied, noticing the man's reddened face. "I want to make sure everything is clean and not infected." He added, placing the packaging from the surgical dressing aside. The detective sighed, wincing as he reached for the hem of his hoodie, insinuating to Nine that his joints were in pain. The android moved Gavin's hands away, grabbing the hem of the man's hoodie himself and gently pulling it up over his head, followed by the black t-shirt he was wearing underneath, revealing several bruises and his damaged rib cage. Gavin looked away, holding his hand in front of his mouth in an attempt to hide how embarrassed he was. He hated people seeing his body. He hated seeing his own body. The detective found himself sub-consciously holding his breath, gritting his teeth as the android ran his finger down his ribs. 

The android pressed the washcloth against the large gash between his third and fourth rib, dabbing in gentle circles as Gavin winced, inhaling harshly whenever the cloth made contact with him. Once the injury was sufficiently clean, Nine placed another dressing over it, securing it carefully before checking over him for any more damage. His eyes scanned over the man's arms, stopping at his wrists which seemed to be littered with scars. The android looked up at Gavin, who's eyes were glued to the floor in the corner of the room, before running his hand down the detective's tattooed forearm, noticing several intricate patterns within it. Gavin had several tattoos, though they were all in places Nine had never seen before, his back, for example, bore a large, pagan style tattoo which ran from the base of his neck the middle of his back. The detective pulled his arm away from Nine upon noticing he was staring, swallowing before opening his mouth to speak.

"Are you done?" Gavin inquired, wrapping his arms around his stomach and hunching over as he became increasingly self conscious. Nine nodded, giving the detective a soft smile before standing up, picking up the clean hoodie that he had gotten for Gavin and handing it to him. The detective looked down at the navy blue hoodie, letting out a soft sigh before smiling, albeit a small one. He pulled the hoodie gently over his head, pulling the sleeves all the way over his hands before standing up and looking at the android gratefully. "Thank you." His voice cracked as he said this, and Nine could tell that he really meant it. Gavin looked down for at his feet for a moment, he wanted to show that he was grateful for the android caring for him. No one had ever treated him like this before, how was he supposed to thank him? The detective inhaled deeply, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around the android, who at first was surprised, and pressed his cheek against Nine's left shoulder.

The android smiled warmly, placing his hands on the man's back, greatly appreciating this gesture. "You're welcome." He spoke softly, and although he worried about what he had seen on the man's wrists, he stayed silent, not wanting to make Gavin uncomfortable or upset. He knew what the detective needed right now was a proper night's rest. After a short moment, the android spoke up. "You should sleep."

The detective sighed, nodding slightly before pulling away from the hug and rubbing his nose with his sleeve, not sure about how he was feeling, if he was honest. He walked past the android out of the bathroom, shortly followed by Nine, who took up residence on the couch again, immediately greeted by Lucifer. The detective smiled as he looked back at the two of them, walking into his bedroom and leaving the door open, pulling off his jeans and hoodie tentatively before getting into his bed, completely wrapping himself up in the covers. 

Nine pet the cat softly a few times, before glancing in the direction of Gavin's bedroom, turning back to the cat and picking him up, placing him gently down on the floor facing the room. "I'm sure he needs you more than I do right now." He spoke softly as Lucifer made his way over to his owner. 

\- x - 

By the time Gavin awoke the next morning, Lucifer was curled up neatly next to him, purring gently in his sleep. He sat up in his bed, stretching slightly through the aching of his body before noticing a neatly folded piece of paper on his nightstand. He opened up the note which, although Gavin couldn't name the font, was written in 'Angelina' and was much more human-like than the detective had expected. Although, had he really been expecting anything? His eyes scanned over the lettering, unsure of why the android had left a note on his nightstand in the first place.

'Gavin, 

I've been called into work today, but Captain Fowler and I have concluded you're under strict instructions to stay home and rest.'

Gavin rolled his eyes. They weren't his parents, for christ's sake. 

'Also, please ensure you eat and drink enough today. I left ingredients on your kitchen counter so you wouldn't have to overwork yourself. Please use today to recover.

Nine.'

The detective let out a sigh, placing the note back on his nightstand before placing a gentle hand on Lucifer's back, smiling softly as his companion purred back at him, making his way into Gavin's lap and settling down with a content purr. 

\- x -

Nine took a deep breath as he made his way through the precincts security gate. He wasn't sure how everyone would see him after his outburst yesterday, he tried to keep his eyes down as he made his way to his desk but Tina caught him by the arm, causing him to look at her.

"Hey, Nine." She said, her voice soft and seemingly apologetic. "Listen, I'm really sorry about yesterday." The woman let go of Nine's arm, clasping her hands together in front of her. "I shouldn't have accused you like that. Especially not in front of everyone." 

Nine's LED flashed a gentle yellow as he listened to her words. He shook his head gently, a soft, forced smile appearing on his face. "It's fine. It was a fair assumption considering I was the last person you saw Gavin with." He responded quietly, taking note that several uniformed officers had their eyes on him. "Thank you for the apology, though." The android added. She flashed a soft smile, patting her hand against his shoulder gently.

"We got a report of the assault on CCTV." Tina informed Nine, "Do you want to work the case with me?" She added, in hopes of regaining the android's trust. Not that she was sure she had it to begin with. Nine nodded as the detective pulled a spare chair up beside her desk. 

The two of them looked over the report given by the business owner, which included audio and CCTV footage, before opening the file containing the video, plugging in a set of headphones to listen without disturbing other officers. They skipped through the usual pedestrians walking down the sidewalk before spotting Gavin stomping along, suddenly stopped in his tracks as a larger figure grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and slammed him up against the wall, feet dangling at least a foot off the floor. Tina's eyes were glued to the screen, whereas Nine focused on the audio, listening to the harsh words that came out of the aggressor. The way he was treating Gavin made Nine's 'stomach' sink. At first, it was just the man speaking, but after a while they heard Gavin choke out some words.

"He's not, fucking trash," His weakened voice croaked. "He fuckin' treats me better than anyone else." He added, seemingly angrily, before attempting to throw a punch.

Tina's eyes flickered over to Nine, who's LED was blinking a harsh red by now. "Anthony Harbour. Born 1999, previous record: 2 counts of aggravated assault in 2036." The android spoke out in an attempt to distract the woman from his furiously flashing indicator. "His current address is missing from my database, but he has been seen across several bars in the past few days." 

"Then we go to one." Tina said, standing up securing her holster to her waist. "Come on." She added, making her way to the exit of the precinct, shortly followed by Nine. A certain aura of anger seemed to surround the female detective, Nine had noticed, as if this man attacking Gavin had truly, deeply affected her. The android found this understandable, however, as the aggressor had made his blue blood practically boil with how he spoke to his partner. He didn't know why it impacted him so heavily, after all, Gavin was his colleague and nothing more, but Nine saw something more in him. More than the hot-headed, rude detective everyone made him out to be.

They had visited several bars before reaching the one that the man was in, the very same bar that Gavin and Nine had visited a couple of days earlier. He was sat, hunched over several empty whiskey glasses, this time in the main bar as it was much less crowded during the day. The android scanned over his face, and sure enough, it was none other than Anthony Harbour himself. His eyes were sunken, and he had a large bruise on his right cheek, most probably from the few hits Gavin had landed on him before Nine broke up their first fight. The man looked up after feeling eyes burning into his back, noticing Nine almost immediately. He stood up unsteadily, stumbling forwards towards Nine.

"Look at that! The tin can Android Fucker loves!" He slurred in an overly-loud voice, pushing Nine backwards with closed fists. Tina furrowed her eyebrows, pulling the man back off of him. When he turned to look at her, he laughed, throwing his head back exaggeratedly.

"What's she gonna do?" He spat, before gasping slightly as Tina pulled his arm behind his back, tugging his arm purposefully harshly due to her anger. She cuffed his hands together before opening her mouth to speak.

"Anthony Harbour, you're under arrest for aggravated assault." She practically growled, pushing her knee into his back to make him stand up straight, which only caused him to struggle away from her, kicking her shin to attempt to get her to let go. Nine grabbed ahold of his arms, shoving him towards the exit as the man hurled around abusive statements. The android's LED bore an alarmingly red hue, flashing maniacally with every new comment from the man in his grip. Nine wasn't usually the type of guy to lash back at someone, and he wouldn't if the man hadn't said the words that exited his mouth next.

"Yeah, 'course you'd fall for that good for nothing, faggot piece of shit cop." He spat, struggling against Nine's grip, which was deathly tight against him by the time they had gotten half-way down the street. The android furrowed his eyebrows, shoving the man forward roughly without letting go of his arms, causing the other's head to fall forward and ultimately making him bite his tongue.

"Say whatever you like about me, but don't you dare speak about Gavin." He almost hissed, glaring angrily at the back of the other's head, which now hung low as he hunched over slightly.


End file.
